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Cladonia stygia (Fr.) Ruoss, 1985

Common name Black-footed Reindeer Lichen Code: CLADSTY
Field Characters Fruticose, shrub-like chlorolichen. Thallus grey to greyish green on top, with a rough surface texture like a wool sock. Form tree-like, with central podetial stem. Branch tips often browned. Inner stems are blackened at the base.
Similar species
 Cladonia rangiferina

  • pale inner stems that are not consistently charcoal-black at the base, but there may be areas of brownish or blackish, decaying branches

Cladonia arbuscula subsp. beringiana

  • more yellow than grey, has inner stems that are not charcoal-black at the base, and it is K+ yellow
Ecology Terricolous and muscicolous, common in bogs and open jackpine stands. Widespread across boreal Alberta.
Chemistry PD+ orange, K-, K+ dingy brown or K+ yellow, KC-, UV- (fumarprotocetraric acid, ± atranorin)
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Lichens of Alberta Copyright © by Diane L. Haughland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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